US accuses RT, others of covert arms dealing, global influence operations

The U.S. State Department sanctioned RT-related entities and individuals, alleging they ran a crowdfunding operation that funneled weapons and maintained an embedded cyber-capable unit linked to Russian intelligence to support influence, disinformation, and intelligence collection worldwide; the report also references FBI findings about an AI bot tool (Meliorator) used to generate inauthentic social media personas and related criminal charges for laundering and influencing operations.